Composite bathroom fixture

ABSTRACT

A composite bathroom fixture with a lavatory overhanging one end of a bathtub, a barrier panel extending upwardly over the rear side of the lavatory, a shower head on the bathtub side of the panel, single hot and cold water valve means accessible from both the lavatory and bathtub, and with director means for selectively controlling the flow of water from the valve means into the lavatory, bathtub or shower head, and a pair of vertical pipes spacing the lower end of the barrier panel from the lavatory respectively enclosing the supply pipe to the shower head and the electrical conduit to a lamp and electrical outlet adjacent a mirrored medicine cabinet on the lavatory side of the barrier panel.

United States Patent FOREIGN PATENTS 1,236,5 67 6/1960 France 4/ 2450,577 7/1949 Italy 4/2- Primary Examiner-Laveme D. Geiger AssistantExaminerHenry K. Artis Attorney-Curtis, Morris & Safford ABSTRACT: Acomposite bathroom fixture with a lavatory overhanging one end of abathtub, a barrier panel extending upwardly over the rear side of thelavatory, a shower head on the bathtub side of the panel, single hot andcold water valve means accessible from both the lavatory and bathtub,and with director means for selectively controlling the flow of waterfrom the valve means into the lavatory, bathtub or shower head, and apair of vertical pipes spacing the lower end of the barrier panel fromthe lavatory respectively enclosing the supply pipe to the shower headand the electrical conduit to a lamp and electrical outlet adjacent amirrored medicine cabinet on the lavatory side of the barrier panel.

PAIENTED mam SHEET 1 [IF 2 LEE W. MC CULLOUGH This invention relates toa composite plumbing fixture for bathrooms incorporating, in a singlecompact assembly, a bathtub, lavatory, shower and a shower barrierhaving, if desired, a medicine cabinet therein.

This combination arrangement not only saves considerable space andenables the installation of full bathroom facilities in a room whichheretofore would have been too small therefor, but also makes possiblethe use of only a single hot and cold valve means for the lavatory,bathtub and shower, thus saving considerably not only in the cost of thecomponents but also in the time and expense of plumbing installation.

The invention accomplishes these objectives while at the same timeproviding an extremely attractive appearance compatible even with luxuryconstruction.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a composite bathroom fixtureembodying features of the invention, installed in one corner of abathroom. 7

H6. 2 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of HG. ll.

lFlGS. 3 and 4 are vertical sections taken on the lines 3-3 and M,respectively, of HG. ll.

As best shown in FIG. ll, the composite fixture includes a bathtub llll,which may be of the conventional type which is adapted to tit into aspace closed by walls at three sides, and which is shown with one endlltla mounted flush against a wall B2 of the bathroom and with its otherend llllb secured to and supporting a vertical column l4. Supported atthe upper end of the column 14 is a lavatory counter 16 in which alavatory basin 1th is mounted with the front side of the counter andbasin overlying the column M and with their rear portions cantileveredtherefrom to overhang the end ltlb of the bathtub. Projecting verticallyabove the rear end of the lavatory counter id is a barrier panel 20whose lower end is supported on and spaced above the counter to by apair of spaced vertical tubes 22 (see also H08. 3 and 4) and whose upperend is supported on and spaced below the ceiling 24 of the bathroom byanother pair of vertical tubes 26 respectively aligied with the lowertubes 22.

The front and rear faces of the column 14 are covered to enclose thepiping, etc., therein, and the rear and undersides of the lavatory areenclosed by a curved back panel 28 (see also HQ. 4) whose upper edgeabuts the underside of the counter lb and whose lower edge adjoins theadjacent edge of the inner face of the column id.

in the particular embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, apair of hot and cold water valves 3% and 32 mounted on the rear portionof the upper surface of the lavatory counter to controls the supply ofhot and cold water from the supply pipes in the column ll to a singleswing-type mixing spout 34 which is normally positioned to dischargewater into the basin lid, but may be pivoted to the opposite position,shown in broken lines in H6. l, to discharge instead into the bathtubill.

The open space between the lower end of the barrier panel 2@ and thecounter ldpermits access to the valves 30 and 32 from either-thelavatory side or the bathtub side of the panel, as well as providingclearance for swinging of the spout 34 between its twoaforementioned-positions. The height of the lavatory counter lb is suchthat the handles of the valves 30 and 32 may be easily reached even by aperson seated in the bathtub.

Mounted on the lavatory back panel 28 is a transfer valve 36 whichserves to disconnect the output of the hot and cold water valves 3t and32 from the spout 34 and connect it instead to a shower head 38 mountedon the upper portion of the bathtub side of the barrier panel 20. Asshown in N68. 2 and 4, the pipe dill extending from the transfer valve36 to the shower head 38 extends through the interior one of the twolower support tubes 22.

The lavatory drain 52 and the bathtub drain d and overflow 56 areconnected into a common waste pipe 5%. The

plumbing connections are shown merely diagrammatically, the usual trapand vent being omitted for the sake of simplicity.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hot and cold water supply pipes may extend fromthe sidewall 59. Although the waste pipe from the lavatory drain 52 isshown as extending downwardly through the floor, it may instead extendlaterally through the sidewall 59. in this case, the lavatory can besupported entirely on the sidewall 59, so that the column M can be cutoff even with the top of the bathtub ill to leave an open space betweenthe bottom of the lavatory back panel 2% and the top of the bathtub ltl.And, if the bathtub l0 is of the type adapted for installation in onecomer of a room, having one enclosed end adapted to be exposed, thecolumn 14 maybe eliminated altogether, with the waste pipes from thebathtub drain 54 and overflow 56 being concealed within the enclosed endof the bathtub.

Mounted on the lavatory side of the barrier panel 20, and partiallyrecessed into the panel, is a medicine cabinet 32 with a mirrored door44 thereon. Mounted atop the medicine cabinet is an electric lamp 436and mounted at one side is an outlet 48 for the power plug of anelectric shaver. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the electric conduit 50 forthe lamp do and outlet dh extends through the other one of the two lowersupport tubes 22.

A rod 60 for a shower curtain extends horizontally between the upperportion of the barrier panel and the wall 12.

As will readily be understood, in the illustrative combination shown anddescribed, a single pair of hot and cold water valves 30 and 32 plus asingle transfer valve 36 control the supply of hot and cold water in anydesired mixture ratio to the lavatory Ed, the bathtub l0 and the showerhead 3%. This not only greatly reduces the cost for plumbing components,but also the installation cost for both rough and finish plumbit will,of course, be apparent that other combinations of valving may beemployed in the composite fixture with equal or slightly lesser saving.For example, instead of a swing spout 34, two separate spouts, one forthe lavatory and one for the bathtub could be provided, with anothertransfer valve for directing the output of the hot and cold water valvesto either spout as desired. Alternatively, separate pairs of hot andcold water valves may be provided for the lavatory and bathtub, withinternal connections from both sets of valves to a single pair of hotand cold water supply pipes, thus saving on the external plumbingrequired. As still another variation within the broad concept of theinvention, a single mixing faucet, having one control handle for bothhot and cold water in any desired mixture ratio, could be provided, witheither a swing spout or a transfer valve for directing flow to eitherthe lavatory of the bathtub as desired, and another transfer valve fordirecting flow to the shower head.

The fact that the lavatory overhangs the drain end of the bathtubgreatly reduces the space required for the two fixtures, while in no wayinterfering with the use of either. With construction costs per squarefoot of building size steadily escalating, the resulting saving in thearea required for a full bathroom is of considerable significance, as isthe substantial saving in the time and materials for on site plumbinginstallation of the assembly.

lclaim:

t. A composite bathroom fixture comprising a bathtub with a draintherein, a lavatory with a drain therein, support means supporting saidlavatory in vertically spaced, overhanging relation to one end of saidbathtub and facing outwardly away from said bathtub, hot and cold watervalve means mounted above the rear portion of said lavatory, spout meansconnected to said valve means for discharging water either into saidlavatory or said bathtub as desired, a barrier panel extendingvertically above the rear portion of said lavatory and forming a dividerbetween said lavatory and said bathtub which is open to permit access tosaid valve means from either said lavatory or said bathtub, a showerhead projecting from an upper portion of the bathtub side of saidbarrier panel toward said bathtub, control means for controlling theflow of water to said shower head, and drain pipe means connecting thedrains in said lavatory and said bathtub into a common waste line.

2. A composite fixture as described in claim 1 in which said supportmeans comprises a column attached to the end of said bathtub andprojecting vertically upwardly therefrom, with the front portion of saidlavatory supported on the upper end of said column.

3. A composite bathroom fixture comprising a bathtub with a draintherein, a lavatory with a drain therein, support means supporting saidlavatory in vertically spaced, overhanging relation to one end of saidbathtub and facing outwardly away from said bathtub, single hot and coldwater valve means mounted above the rear portion of the upper surface ofsaid lavatory, a barrier panel extending vertically above the rearportion of said lavatory and forming a divider between said lavatory andsaid bathtub, with an open space at the lower end of said barrier panelto permit access to said valve means from either the lavatory side orthe bathtub side of said barrier panel, a shower head projecting from anupper portion of the bathtub side of said barrier panel toward saidbathtub, spout means connected to said valve means for discharging waterinto said lavatory and said bathtub, first director means forselectively directing the dischargeof water from said spout means eitherinto said lavatory or said bathtub as desired, second director means fordirecting the flow of water from said valve means either into saidshower head or into said spout means, and drain pipe means connectingthe drains in said lavatory and said bathtub into a common waste line.

4. A composite fixture as described in claim 3 in which the lower end ofsaid barrier panel is connected to said lavatory by at least onevertical tubular member enclosing a supply pipe carrying water to saidshower head.

5. A composite fixture as described in claim 3 in which a medicinecabinet with a mirrored door is mounted on the lavatory side of saidbarrier panel.

6. A composite fixture as described in claim 5 in which an electric lampis mounted adjacent said medicine cabinet.

7. A composite fixture as claimed in claim 6 in which the lower end ofsaid barrier panel is connected to said lavatory by at least two spacedvertical tubular members, one enclosing a supply pipe carrying water tosaid shower head and the other enclosing wiring connected to saidelectric lamp.

8. A composite fixture as described in claim 7 in which tubular membersextend above the upper end of said barrier panel to engage the ceilingstructure and support the upper end of said barrier panel.

1. A composite bathroom fixture comprising a bathtub with a draintherein, a lavatory with a drain therein, support means supporting saidlavatory in vertically spaced, overhanging relation to one end of saidbathtub and facing outwardly away from said bathtub, hot and cold watervalve means mounted above the rear portion of said lavatory, spout meansconnected to said valve means for discharging water either into saidlavatory or said bathtub as desired, a barrier panel extendingvertically above the rear portion of said lavatory and forming a dividerbetween said lavatory and said bathtub which is open to permit access tosaid valve means from either said lavatory or said bathtub, a showerhead projecting from an upper portion of the bathtub side of saidbarrier panel toward said bathtub, control means for controlling theflow of water to said shower head, and drain pipe means connecting thedrains in said lavatory and said bathtub into a common waste line.
 2. Acomposite fixture as described in claim 1 in which said support meanscomprises a column attached to the end of said bathtub and projectingvertically upwardly therefrom, with the front portion of said lavatorysupported on the upper end of said column.
 3. A composite bathroomfixture comprising a bathtub with a drain therein, a lavatory with adrain therein, support means supporting said lavatory in verticallyspaced, overhanging relation to one end of said bathtub and facingoutwardly away from said bathtub, single hot and cold water valve meansmounted above the rear portion of the upper surface of said lavatory, abarrier panel extending vertically above the rear portion of saidlavatory and forming a divider between said lavatory and said bathtub,with an open space at the lower end of said barrier panel to permitaccess to said valve means from either the lavatory side or the bathtubside of said barrier panel, a shower head projecting from an upperportion of the bathtub side of said barrier panel toward said bathtub,spout means connected to said valve means for discharging water intosaid lavatory and said bathtub, first director means for selectivelydirecting the discharge of water from said spout means either into saidlavatory or said bathtub as desired, second director means for directingthe flow of water from said valve means either into said shower head orinto said spout means, and drain pipe means connecting the drains insaid lavatory and said bathtub into a common waste line.
 4. A compositefixture as described in claim 3 in which the lower end of said barrierpanel is connected to said lavatory by at least one vertical tubularmember enclosing a supply pipe carrying water to said shower head.
 5. Acomposite fixture as described in claim 3 in which a medicine cabinetwith a mirrored door is mounted on the lavatory side of said barrierpanel.
 6. A composite fixture as described in claim 5 in which anelectric lamp is mounted adjacent said medicine cabinet.
 7. A compositefixture as claimed in claim 6 in which the lower end of said barrierpanel is connected to said lavatory by at least two spaced verticaltubular members, one enclosing a supply pipe carrying water to saidshower head and the other enclosing wiring connected to said electriclamp.
 8. A composite fixture as described in claim 7 in which tubularmemberS extend above the upper end of said barrier panel to engage theceiling structure and support the upper end of said barrier panel.